"People are really in fear... this is a cause for concern," said District Collector Naval Kishore Ram, alluding to instances of patients either running away or breaking down after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

A doctor counselling patients over public announcement system at YCM hospital on Monday. Express photo.

Even as District Collector Naval Kishore Ram on Monday appealed to doctors and medical staff to make efforts to dispel the fear among people diagnosed with coronavirus disease, hospital authorities said they were trying their best to boost the morale of patients.

“People are really in fear… this is a cause for concern,” said the district collector, alluding to instances of patients either running away or breaking down after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Urging hospitals to scale up counselling efforts, Ram said, “People must understand that there are thousand of diseases much more serious than coronavirus. This disease is scary only because of its fast transmission but when someone gets infected, we should try to give moral and emotional support to the patient. We need to increase our counselling efforts and interactions with the patients so that they are mentally prepared to take on the challenge…”.

“Not all co-morbid patients succumb to the infection. Reasonably good care and early admission of patients can lead to 100 per cent success. Let’s dispel all the misconceptions and myths associated with this disease,” he said.

Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of the civic-run YCM Hospital and Medical College, said in each ward of the hospital, a public announcement system has been. “Every day, twice, our doctors counsel patients through the public counselling system about fighting the coronavirus challenge. The patients are being mentally prepared to get well and not get bogged down or remain in fear…,” he said.

“Every day, new topics are discussed. It could be about how some people recovered, it could be about nutrition, about morale boosting, exercise and or how countries were making efforts to come up with medicine and vaccines. We cover diverse subjects to motivate and inspire the patients,” he said, adding that a team of specialists interact regularly with patients. “Medicine and psychological support should go hand-in-hand. It helps in the recovery process,” said Dr Wable.

At the government-run Aundh Civil Hospital, Civil Surgeon Dr Ashok Nandapurkar said the hospital was adopting the twin strategy of medical assistance and counselling for patients. “There is fear in the minds of patients diagnosed with Covid-19. If the fear factor is there, the body also does not respond. If fear disappears, the patients respond well to the treatment. And that is why we have adopted the twin strategy of counselling as well as giving medicines to the patients. They are working well…,” he said.